1 Replies - 1763 Views - Last Post: 20 August 2013 - 02:08 PM

When will I know it is time to enter the private sector?

Posted 19 August 2013 - 01:42 PM

This is kind of a weird question, not conducive to exact answers, so a general opinion will be appropriate.

I graduated from a 2 year school about 2 years ago. I spent about 6 months doing full time QA then moved to Web App Development. I was lucky enough to score a job at a large company that has a very 'learner friendly' atmosphere, at least for the lower level developers.

SO far I have been the sole developer on all my projects and they seem to average around 3 months to finish, including client meetings, etc. In this 3 months I:

Meet with the customer

Create a couple project specification documents

Design the database

Build the database

Design the application

Build the front end UI

Build the back end application

Test it, then send to QA

Deploy it to a server.

I am trying to evaluate when would be a good time to move out of this comfortable environment, to private development company (I am currently public sector). I have no evidence of this, but I am pretty sure the workload in private sector is going to be bigger and the demands to finish fast will be constant. I have no problem working hard and getting things done. My only concern is that I am not yet good enough to make it in the real world. Remember I have been programming for a total of 18 months.

I know I can't ask something like 'how long should a web app take to build' as that is a completely relative question. What I am hoping for are some general examples of projects with timelines, like "I have been programming for 6 years. I can put together a web app & DB with 6 tables (5- 10 columns each), 5 user interactive pages and 3 static pages, in blah days/weeks/months." Sorry for the wierd question, and Thank you for answering it anyway.

Replies To: When will I know it is time to enter the private sector?

Re: When will I know it is time to enter the private sector?

Posted 20 August 2013 - 02:08 PM

well the private sector is not always "now now now" with projects. That depends on the company. I know of companies that take forever to develop anything. Some are bogged down by office politics so they move slowly in the industry. Some are lightning quick because they do short sprints.

I can't say that there is going to be a perfect time to leap into the private sector. Since you have a job now, just start going on a few interviews with companies to feel them out. If the company feels right and the pace is to your liking, then you can jump ship. Otherwise you stay at your job and continue looking on the side. But if you feel pretty comfortable taking projects from start to finish as it is, you are already in a good position to go to the private sector.

But everything you are asking about is relative to the company you would join. They might be a bit faster than some public sector job, but they could also be just as slow or slower. Try AT&T for instance. They move like molasses.